MADE.By You. For You. {@CHIxMPLS}

Toronto International Film Festival 2017 Kicks Off September 7th

One of our favorite film festivals here at MADE, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), is kicking off its 2017 festivities this week. Known for its wide range of genres, independent films, and documentaries, TIFF is the unofficial audition for the annual film-awards season that wraps with the Academy Awards celebrations every February. This years entries are no exception. Some of the more anticipated showings are documentaries surrounding Grace Jones (Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami), Barack Obama (The Final Year), and Lady Gaga (Gaga: Five Foot Two), as well as an under-the-radar entry from comedian Louis CK (I Love You, Daddy) that will appear in black and white. As always there is a plethora of noteworthy entries, so many, in fact, that it seems impossible to filter out a ‘most anticipated’ list.

Darkest Hour features Oscar-nominee Gary Oldman as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the political turmoil of World War II. Hostiles is a new Western-frontier drama from director Scott Cooper that stars Christian Bale as a US Calvary officer in the Civil War. Bale’s character is tasked with escorting his long-term enemy and Cheyenne chief back to his home tribe in order to die peacefully, but the journey is sure to be filled with violence and bitter hostility.

Finally, Kings is a drama from Turkish filmmaker Deniz Gamze Ergüven, that follows two neighbors (portrayed by Halle Berry and Daniel Craig respectively) during the LA riots of 1992 that was set in motion by the Rodney King trial. Considering the state of race relations in the US today, and coupled with the 25th anniversary of the infamous riots, Kings definitely has the potential to strike a chord for movie-goers of today. Check out the 2017 Must See list from Rolling Stone for more details on some select entries. The festival runs through September 18th.